The News
Monday 25 of November 2024

11-year-old girl gets heart transplant after visit by Drake


This Monday, Aug, 20, 2018 photo provided by the rapper Drake shows him posing with Sofia Sanchez, at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Drake surprised her after she recorded a video of herself dancing to the rapper's
This Monday, Aug, 20, 2018 photo provided by the rapper Drake shows him posing with Sofia Sanchez, at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Drake surprised her after she recorded a video of herself dancing to the rapper's "In My Feelings" and invited him to her birthday party. Sanchez is awaiting a heart transplant. (OVO/Drake via AP),This Monday, Aug, 20, 2018 photo provided by the rapper Drake shows him posing with Sofia Sanchez, at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Drake surprised her after she recorded a video of herself dancing to the rapper's "In My Feelings" and invited him to her birthday party. Sanchez is awaiting a heart transplant. (OVO/Drake via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago girl has received a heart transplant just days after she danced her way into a hospital visit from Drake.

Surgeons performed the transplant on 11-year-old Sofia Sanchez on Monday at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital. The Canadian rapper visited Sofia there after seeing a video of her dancing in a hospital hallway to his song, “In My Feelings.” The video inspired a viral dance craze.

Cardiovascular surgeon Carl Backer says Sofia’s nine-hour surgery went extremely well, although the first 48 hours after are critical.

A Facebook video shows Sofia being told of the transplant on Sunday and then exclaiming “I’m getting a heart, Mom? Oh my God!”

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This story has been corrected to show that the surgery took nine, not 12 hours.